RAIN DANCE, ANYONE?

[schlomo]

Rain Dance, Anyone?

Except for a bit of rain from Hurricane Douglas in August, a summer drought has plagued most of Oahu, including Waikiki and its environs.  Lustrous palm trees are beginning to wither. Bird of Paradise flowers are shriveling up. Diamond Head Crater is dirty brown. The mammoth monkey pod tree at the Kahala Hotel has patches of yellowish leaves that forlornly cling together. The drought in conjunction with the ravages of Covid-19 is demoralizing.

Even though there has been some rain over the Koolau Mountains looming in the distance in front of my condo, I have not seen a rainbow for over three months.

But yesterday was a revelation. As I rounded the last lap of my walk, I saw a rainbow canopied across the mountains. It wasn’t spectacular; it wasn’t dramatic. Nonetheless, it was a long sought after rainbow, and I reveled in it. I was even tempted to bow down to it.

One of the names of Hawaii is the Rainbow State. That epithet has been a misnomer so far this summer, with the exception of yesterday.

A weak storm system in the Eastern Pacific is meandering toward Hawaii. I wish it would come close enough to bless us with replenishing showers and brilliant rainbows that would give us a respite from the Covid-19 blues.